Indian National Congress celebrates 140th Anniversary

The 140th anniversary of the Indian National Congress was observed at Congress Bhavan in Wangbal, Thoubal district, on Sunday. The programme was organised by the Khangabok Block Congress Committee as part of similar observances held at Congress offices across the country.
The function was attended by Thoubal District Congress Committee president N Lukhoi Singh, Khangabok Block Congress Committee working president Th Ibomcha Singh, Thoubal District Mahila Congress Committee president L Ngambi Devi, and Khangabok Block Mahila Congress Committee president A Tamphasana as dignitaries.
As part of the observance, floral tributes were paid to the portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, Allan Octavian Hume, regarded as the founder of the Indian National Congress, and Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee, the first president of the party.
Addressing the gathering, Yumnam Basanta, secretary of the Khangabok Block Congress Committee, said that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme, which was introduced during the Congress regime and named after Mahatma Gandhi, had been providing employment for one hundred days to the poor and continued to benefit economically weaker sections. He alleged that the BJP’s decision to rename the scheme and remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name shows a lack of understanding of their own dharma.
He further alleged that since coming to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party had been functioning arbitrarily, promoting communal divisions among communities, and pursuing an agenda aimed at transforming the country into a Hindu nation, which he claimed was detrimental to the unity of the country.